NinjaGo - Random Stories N' Stuff

Back When We Were Kids

"Ronin," a shy voice began, "do you ever wonder what m-might happen to us?"

"No, not really," another voice replied, this one sounding slightly cocky, and one could even say overconfident. "I mean, we've got each other, right?"

"Y-yes..." the shy voice said with a stutter.

Ronin knew that stutter would remain in place for quite a while. The other boy, Archer, was very introverted and didn't like talking very much. Ronin was the opposite. He'd talk to anyone he met, and knew how to start a conversation.

"But... W-What if something happens to one of us?"

"Nothing will," Ronin said confidently. "We can make it through anything. Remember that time we almost slid off a cliff in winter? We survived that. Remember when we outsmarted an angry bear? We survived that."

It indeed was true that the two had been through a lot together. They spent lots of their time in the woods or in the village of Stiix, both of which aren't very safe, especially for two orphaned kids.

A sudden snap caught their attention. Archer jumped.

"W-what w-was that-? Was th-that a g-g-ghost?"

"It's okay, Archer. Ghosts aren't real. It was probably just a squirrel or something," Ronin tried to calm Archer down.

Archer had a deathly fear of ghosts. The thought of someone who had died coming back to torment him made him want to cry sometimes.

"You're okay, Archer," Ronin said. He looked in the direction of where the noise came from. "See? Just a silly little bunny."

Indeed, there was a small rabbit hopping around, breaking twigs every now and then. Archer smiled with relief.

"Remind me again why I came with you into the w-woods?" Archer asked. Even when the boy was asking a question with confidence or sarcasm, he stuttered.

"Because we always hang out here," Ronin said. "And because you'd die without me."

Archer flinched at the reference to death. He bit his lip nervously, trying to be brave.

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Four years later...

"R-Ronin? W-where are you?"

"Archer!"

Archer followed the sound of Ronin's voice through the darkness, clutching his bow, ready to shoot anything that dares to threaten his best friend.

He eventually found Ronin, who had just won a fight with a 4-foot tall Fire Dragon. The dragon laid on its side, injured. Blood seeped onto the ground. The Dragon could've easily finished Ronin off, but it was out of energy. It slept a good ten feet away from Ronin.

Ronin, on the other hand, was not okay at all. He held a bloodstained hand over his right eye, and his left arm was completely severed off. Archer rushed over and pulled a pack of bandages out of his bag, and immediately began to attempt to stop the bleeding in Ronin's arm. Ronin passed out from blood loss.

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When Ronin woke up, he noticed two things: he couldn't feel his left arm, and he couldn't feel his right eye.

Archer was standing next to him when he woke up. He also saw another familiar face, who was currently working with something mechanical.

"Mr. Walker, he's awake," Archer said.

Ed Walker, otherwise known as "the mechanic," turned around and looked at Ronin.

"Ah, glad to see you're awake!"

Ronin slowly recalled the fight with the Fire Dragon. "So I have no right eye and no left arm, correct?" He asked.

"No, but I'm workin' on that right now. Archer, give him the eyepatch."

Archer pulled the bandages off Ronin's right eye. In place of that, he slipped a leather eyepatch over his right eye.

"You can make any modifications to that as you'd like, kiddo," Mr. Walker said. "It may be another hour before I get this mechanical arm finished, though."

————————————

Present Day...

"Soul Archer... I hate being enemies."

"I do too."

"Back when we were kids..."

"We swore we would never die."

"And yet, look at us now. You're a ghost, and I'm missing an eye and an arm."

Soul Archer said nothing.

"I don't wanna hate you anymore."

"..."

"I wish we could be friends again."

"..."

"...Soul Archer?"

"I'm sorry, Ronin."

"...?"

"I put you through more pain than anyone could have deserved, what with the whole 'cursing your soul' thing."

"It's alright."

"Is it?"

"Yeah."